Me As a Mommy

Life as a mom is wonderful. But as every mom knows, being a mom comes with challenges. As a new mom I'm learning a lot everyday and I don't think moms ever stop learning. Every child is different and everyday with that child is different. One day they sleep well and eat well and are perfectly happy, the next they feel sick and wont stop crying. Life as a mom is hard. And if I were to give advice to any new mom it would be: There are no right answers. Sure there are do's and dont's but no baby is the same. I guess really I'm writing this to make myself feel better. I had this image in my head of what I would be like as a mom and it didn't quite turn out the same.
Kyler isn't really on a schedule. I see lots of moms who know exactly when their child will eat, sleep, and poop. I consider it lucky if I guess the time Kyler will want to eat next. Maybe I could have done a better job when he was first born at getting him to eat and sleep when I wanted but it just didn't seem that important. I read a baby should eat for about ten min on one side, burp, and eat another ten min. Ha! Sometimes he eats 5 min, sometimes he eats 20. Just depends on his mood I guess. And sleeping..."a nap in the am, a nap in the pm and wake up every 4-7 hours at night". Well considering I didn't get up until 11 when I was home with him what's considered an am nap? And then if it takes from 4-7 to finally get him to stay asleep (he's a light sleeper, like me. And I'm out and about a lot) how do I control when his bedtime should be? I'm happy for and impressed by moms who do have their kids on a schedule but if MY life isn't on one how can I expect his to be? So am in not as good of mom because he isn't on a schedule? Sometimes I think 'yes' but I just have to remind myself I'm not.
It's hard because I'm a perfectionist. And my life is crazy. No two days are the same. I want the best for Kyler but what I guess I need to convince myself is that the best for him doesn't mean he has a perfectly scheduled life and I do everything perfect. As long as I am doing my best and he is happy and healthy and knows I love him more than anything I'm doing great. And honestly I think more moms need to remind themselves of that. To every mom out there- just remember You have the greatest job on earth and no matter what your kids say or do just remember that as long as they know you love them things will be ok.


(Thank you, Blogger, for letting me vent and remind myself everything is just fine. Also, I'm not looking for advice or sympathy, just letting out my thoughts.)

Annual Fall Walk Up the Canyon

I wish we would have taken more pictures but on the way back Kyler got hungry and we had to hurry back. Last year we got a cute family picture and I was hoping to get one again this year but it just didn't work out. It was still fun though, I just love seeing all the pretty fall colors.

Happy Halloween!!!

This year's Halloween wasn't too eventful but Kyler did get to dress up. He was a football. My mom threw together this adorable costume for him and I just loved it. I wish I would have planned better because I could have dressed up as a cheer leader and Jake could have been a football player. But of course after having a baby I wasn't too focused on Halloween and it kinda hit me by surprise this year.

He looks so scared!

Jake and his little football!

Goal!

Cute little outfit from Jennifer!

Jake decided since he was now 4 weeks old it was time he should change his own diaper.

We did manage to carve pumpkins this year...

Jake's Firey Scull!
Alyssa's Starry Night!

5 Generations!!

Kyler is lucky enough to have a great-great grandpa! Not many of us get know our great-great grandparents. Kyler met his Great-Great Grandpa Gordon on Oct 26 and on Nov 8 he got to meet his Great Grandma Karen so we were lucky enough to get a 5 generation picture.

• Great-Great Grandpa - Max Gordon


• Great Grandma - Karen Wilson


• Grandma - Leslie Flores


• Mom - Alyssa Cohoon


• Kyler!

First Bath

Kyler's first bath at home was a pretty eventful one. The first bath we gave him was a sponge bath because his umbelical cord hadn't fallen off yet. Jake did most the work and I took the pictures. The picture I missed was Kyler peeing and it going into Jake's mouth! It was so funny!

What a good daddy Kyler has!!

More Pictures of Kyler's First Day

Aww, my little thumb sucker...

First time meeting grandpa!

Getting a bath...

Welcome Home, Kyler!

Kyler came home on Thursday, Oct 7.

First time in his new bed.

Happy BIRTHDAY Kyler!

The story of Kyler's Birth...

My actual "due date" was Oct 17, 2010. Knowing that my mom had all of her babies at least 3 weeks early I had a feeling I wouldn't make it until then. I just wanted to make it until October. We were really hoping for the 10th so that his birthday would be on 10-10-10 but that didn't happen. On our 'sealing anniversary' (May 16) Jake bought me a beautiful necklace with the October birth stone. After that I just prayed he would be born in October.

I had a doctor's appointment on Thurs, Sept 30 and found out I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. This didn't surprise me because I woke up feeling different. I knew I wasn't in labor but I could tell something was changing. The doctor said I could have the baby anytime now, even that night. That worried me because it was not Oct yet! What if I didn't make it until midnight? Not to mention, that is my best friend, Jennifer's, birthday. That day has already been claimed! So I went home and laid on the couch all day. I felt like I had the flu or something anyway, not to mention the stress of knowing I could have a baby at any minute, so I enjoyed the day off.

Well, the day went by and between naps I made sure I had everything ready for the hospital. I wasn't really having contractions, and when I did I hardly noticed and they were, at the closest, 10 min apart. Jennifer came over to keep me company and help me get things ready. (I think she did it more for her sanity...she was a little anxious). After Jake got home we decided to go get something to eat. It was 9:00 and we decided if it were going to happen sometime during the night we might as well eat while we can. We went to Village Inn (because IHOP couldn't find a minute to serve us) and had some ok food. We went home, went to bed, woke up the next morning...nothing happened.

Friday came and my contractions were still very very minimal. Jennifer and my mom came over (for both of their sanity) and we went to the mall to walk around. It was October now and I was so ready to have him. By that evening I was having almost no contractions.

Saturday Jake and I decided to walk some more and get things going. I was getting so impatient and stressed because everyone kept asking about me. I'm glad they were concerned for me but things were going so slowly I wasn't in the best mood. I went to work for a few hours and spent the evening having dinner at my aunt and uncles to visit family that had come from Cali for conference. It was really nice and got my mind off all the stress I was having. By the end of the day I had decided I was going in reverse. I wasn't having any contractions so he must have changed his mind.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. After Jake went to work at 4 I decided to do some of the exercises I had learned in my birthing class. I had done a few the days before but now I was anxious for the baby to come so I really put some effort into it. Around 6:00 my contractions started again. YAY! I didn't say anything to anyone because I didn't want to jinx it. I just kept swaying my hips on my birthing ball (basically a work-out ball I got from my class) and praying they didn't stop. Around 7 I remember thinking "hey, that felt like a real contraction!" They were about 8 min apart and around 7:30 I finally told Jake I was having real contractions. By 8:00 they were getting uncomfortable. They were still about 8 min apart but sometimes only 5. I decided to take a bath, something I learned in my class, to relax. After being in the tub 15 min I decided it was too uncomfortable and Jake should come home so I wouldn't feel so anxious. So much for that idea...When I told him he should come home he said he couldn't for another 45 min. *Hello! I'm in labor and stressing out! Come home now!!!*

By this time it was around 9:00 and they were 5-7 min apart and painful. I was doing ok but really wanted Jake there for support. He finally came home around 9:30 and we started packing things in the car and getting ready. We finally left the house around 10:45. My contractions were 3-5 min apart and were painful but still manageable.

We got to the hospital at 11 and of course they admitted me (I was almost dilated to a 5- yeah, after almost 4 days I had dilated almost one cm).

I planned on having a completely natural birth and my doctor told me I didn't have to be hooked up to an IV but that I had to have a saline lock just in case. I HATE needles so I wasn't happy about this but didn't have much choice. That was the only thing that made me cry, sadly the nurse poking my hand was worse than my contractions.

Well, the night went on with the nurse checking me every hour or so and my contractions getting closer together and more intense. I was having back labor (which they say is worse than normal labor but I really have nothing to compare so who knows) most likely because the baby was face up (portiere) rather than face down, how he should be. Because of this I wasn't progressing even though the pain kept getting worse.

Jake was so good to rub my back every time I had a contraction (which was about every minute, lasting a minute). I was doing really well...but here's where I was not so happy...

I had asked in my "birth plan" to be on the monitors as little as possible so I could be free to move around (also the reason I had no IV). Well, I had a Monitor Nazi Nurse (excuse the language, but she was). If I moved even a tiny bit and it messed up the monitors she would be in my room in .02 seconds to fix it. I couldn't lay certain ways or the monitor would freak out. I decided I wanted to walk the halls to get things going. Plus, because I was having back labor it helped for Jake to lift my belly (something we learned in class). Well, the nurse came in and instead of taking the monitors off, hooked me up to an IV pull so the monitors could still be attached. Ok, I could deal with that...Well, we get about 10 feet down the hall from the nurses station and I swear the nurse is on a dead run to us. "You have to come back! The monitor isn't picking up the signal, you're too far away from your room!" So we were limited to about 20 feet of hallway in front of my room and the nurses station. After about 10 min I decided it was ridiculous and I was tired of her sitting there watching me walk. It was stressing me out. So we went back to the room. I tried sitting on my birthing ball (another thing from class) only to find her back in there telling us "the monitor's don't like it when you sit like that." Ok, so how about a bath. The rooms at Orem Community Hospital all have jetted tubs. And the monitors could go in the water!! Finally, something they won't freak out to. I get in the tub and the nurse comes to remind me "not to get your saline lock wet". So I'm stuck with trying to find a comfortable position while holding my hand out of the water. By this time I had had it. I got back in bed, limited to laying on my left side (monitors didn't like me laying on my right).

Around 5 am the nurse checked me and said I was just barely 6 cm. After no sleep and no progress and not being able to do anything I was done. I had been in labor over 12 hours (at least labor with contractions) and was just worn out. When she told me I hadn't made any progress I think it was the last straw for me. I didn't know how much longer I had to do this and I couldn't even do it the way I wanted. I decided to get the epidural.

Of course right when i decided to get the epidural it was shift change and i got a new nurse. She was super nice and probably wouldn't have been so crazy about the monitors. But it was too late now, I'd made up my mind. I was just too discouraged to keep going.

Being afraid of needles I was not looking forward to getting one in my back. However, I had an awesome anetheseaologist and I didn't feel a thing. From the moment he started the epidural I didn't feel anymore contractions. I could finally relax and get some sleep...0r so I thought. Hospitals are probably the worst place for trying to sleep. People are constantly in and out of your room. No rest for the weary. It was a little after 7am and I was told to rest a little and then my doctor would be in to break my water. He came in I think a little before 8am and broke my water and hooked me up to pitocin because I was still only at a 7. So in one hour I had broke three of my own rules: 1)epidural 2)water broken for me 3)pitocin. I was pretty sad about it but I have to admit it was pretty nice to just relax and not feel anything. I was so exhausted.

At 10:00 the nurse came in to check me and said I was at a 10 so she wanted me to sleep until about 11 and then I would start pushing. Of course I didn't sleep, even though I tried, and at 10:45 she came in to get me ready for the doctor.

I guess she thought I'd have to push for a long time so I was going to push for a little while before the doctor came. I pushed twice and she told me to stop! Then we waited for the doctor. I guess his head was just sitting there and finally the nurse got on my call button and told someone to "tell the doctor to get in here now!" He came and she was all upset saying she was about ready to deliver this baby by herself. It was pretty funny. The doctor got all ready and I pushed I think 3 more time and he was out.

The second I saw him I couldn't stop crying. It was amazing. The doctor kept saying congratulations and all I could do was cry. Jake cut the cord and then they started weighing and measuring and cleaning him up.

Kyler was born on October 4, 2010 at 11:12 am. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long. He is absolutely perfect! I don't think the pregnancy and birth of my first child could have gone any better. I still don't know what I was so scared of. I almost can't wait to do it again (even though I'm sure the next one will be completely different.)

First time holding my precious baby boy.
Jake is so happy to finally be able to hold his little boy.

Poor Jake was so good to sleep here for the 3 nights we were in the hospital. I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful guy. The perfect husband and now the perfect father.

Pre-Kyler

Here are some PRE-KYLER pictures--just for fun!

As crazy as it might sound, I look at these and miss being pregnant! I loved being able to rub my belly and know that Kyler was in there, safe and secure. Now he is here in this big, scary world and it's not as easy to protect him. I loved being pregnant. I was blessed with a very easy pregnancy. I never threw up and my "morning sickness" was just a little nausea or loss of appetite every now and then. I was uncomfortable my last month but I think that was the worst of it. I'm not ready for another one yet but when I am I can't wait to be pregnant again. I just hope the next one is as easy as this one was. It's crazy to think I used to be so terrified of being pregnant and having a baby.
I think this was the last picture taken of me when I was pregnant.

Things to Come...

Because my computer is out of commission I haven't been able to do any posts. I plan on doing some soon, so here is a preview of things to come...
*Some Prego Belly Pic's
*Kyler's Birth
*Kyler's First Photoshoot
*Welcome Home, Kyler
*Kyler's First Bath
*Fun Times
*Hiccups
*Kyler's First Halloween

Just some random stuff....

I'll start out with the good...Yesterday, for lunch I decided to make crepes and Jake made orange julius. I thought it was the perfect meal and just had to take a picture to show it off. I'm not much of a cook so when something (even something as easy as crepes) turns out this good I just have to show it off.

!!!!!!!~CAUTION!!! WARNING!!! BEWARE!!!~!!!!!!!

I MUST WARN YOU THIS NEXT IMAGE IS SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LIKE THE SIGHT OF BLOOD, LOOK AWAY NOW! Ok, it's really not THAT bad...

Every Tuesday night Jake goes and plays church basket ball. Last week he came home early and I knew something was up when the first words he said after walking in the door were..."Honey, don't be mad. I'm ok." Of course I started going through possible injuries in my head; broken arm, broken leg...and if you're thinking 'but he drove home by himself, it can't be that bad' let me just remind you who drove himself home from road hockey with his roller blades still ON while missing half his mouth.
Anyway...turns out it really wasn't too bad. He got elbowed in the head and it gave him a pretty good gash. It probably should have had stitches but he wasn't in a lot of pain and didn't want to pay ER fees for a few stitches. We tried to go to Insta-Care that night, only to find out they had just closed minutes before we arrived. His mom took a look at it that night and we decided he'd be ok until morning. And as his mom added "just wrap it with an ace bandage" (the Cohoon's will get that). Funny thing is he couldn't just put a band-aid on it because of the hair so he put some gauze and wrapped it with...what else? an ace bandage. The next day he went and saw Dr. Johnson who said it would be fine. And so far I think it has healed really well. He'll have a pretty good scar but knowing Jake I don't think he'll mind one bit. And now for the glorious picture. (That really isn't that bad so don't worry)

Jake's Latest Masterpiece

Last month, while at Wal Mart, Jake found some really cool palm trees. They only had 3 and no one knew what they were called. The only sticker on them said "Cold Hearty Palm". Of course Jake got really excited because he loves palm trees and these sounded like they were made for Utah. (We will see come winter time!) So he bought all 3 and then realized we didn't have anything to put them in and just putting them in the ground might not be such a good idea. (In case we do have to bring them in for the winter.) Also, our pond was looking a little bare. So together we came up with the idea for planter boxes. (Jake's idea-Alyssa's drawing) Jake got right to work and they were finished in no time. Here are some pictures of my hubby hard at work:

And here is the finished product! I think our yard looks so beautiful. And as soon as we paint or do something with that white wall in the back it will be perfect!

This is an attempted picture of our whole back yard. I love our gazebo but I'm pretty sure Jake's next project will be some chairs to go under it. I just wish we had more money for him to build all the stuff he wants to. He loves working with wood and everything he does turns out beautifully. I'd say he really has a lot of talent and I am so grateful for it!

Our New Friend

Every summer we get a new friend in our yard. This one is actually in the neighbors yard but might as well be in ours. He/she lets us know he/she is there...every morning! We have a wood pecker. At first Jake thought I was crazy but after about a week he believed me. He/she is a very effective alarm clock on the days we want to sleep in. And I finally got it on video. Enjoy! (sorry it's so shaky, I was zoomed way in so it's hard to hold the camera steady)

Camping Trip!

Technically, this was our second camping trip of the year, however, I don't have pictures from the first one and it really wasn't all that great... We wanted to go up to Payson Lakes, but they weren't open yet. So, we went up AF canyon and found a nice little camping spot. We got all set up and had a yummy dinner and roasted marshmallows. Then we went to bed....with Nala. She had never been camping before. I think she was a little scared and confused. As Jake put it "she was shaking like a Little Caesar's sign." Needless to say the 3 of us didn't get much sleep. At around midnight it started raining. And it didn't stop...until sometime the next day. Our tent started leaking around 9am and we figured we'd better pack up when we realized the rain probably wasn't letting up and i couldn't go without food for much longer. Only bringing food that has to be cooked and having no canopy to cook under wasn't so great. Anyway, we packed up and came home.

Our next camping trip was a million times better. We went up to Payson Lakes. It was so beautiful up there and the camp grounds are really nice (can't say so much for the bathrooms but it's camping so ya just gotta live with it). We went with some friends from Jake's work, Ed and Megan. And we didn't bring Nala this time.

I'd say it was the perfect first camping trip. The weather was perfect the whole time and there weren't very many bugs at all. We went fishing both days and Jake and Ed got to have fish for lunch. Everyone caught a few fish (Jake caught over 15 between both days-he only kept the ones to eat though) except me. I caught zero. I had fun though, and that's what matters. And I did get to gut the fish, so that was exciting for me. (Might sound a little crazy to you but I was excited because I hadn't gutted one in awhile. I used to go fishing with my grandpa all the time and when my younger cousins got grossed out by the dead fish I was put in charge of gutting them.)

We also had some camp ground friends! A few chip monks and pot guts/prairie dogs were playing in our camp ground. They were not shy and got really close to us!

We went on a fun little hike to Grotto Trail. There is a water fall at the end and it was so pretty! I think we want to make it a tradition to go to Payson Lakes for our first camping trip of the year every year. It really was one of the best camping trips I've ever been on!